Activity on Kraken’s Ink Layer 2 rises ahead of token rollout

The Ink blockchain, developed by Kraken as a Layer 2 on Optimism's Superchain, has seen a surge in activity ahead of a planned token rollout.Last week, the Ink Foundation announced the INK token with a fixed supply of 1 billion, along with a community airdrop structured through a liquidity pool on Aave. This followed a sharp rise in activity, with daily transactions surpassing 500,000 and active contracts nearly doubling since May to a peak of 6,000 on June 18, according to a Dune Analytics dashboard. However, its total value locked remains below $8 million, which indicates room for growth in capital on the blockchain. Ink launched its mainnet in December 2024, ahead of its initially scheduled launch in the first quarter of 2025. The blockchain is fully compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) applications, which allows developers to deploy existing Ethereum-based apps at lower costs and with faster transactions.   The network is part of Optimism's Superchain ecosystem, along with Base and the Layer 2s by Sony, Uniswap, and World, among others.Its upcoming token "will not play a role" in any of the governance decisions for the Ink Layer-2, the foundation said. Instead, it will primarily be used for liquidity aggregation and to incentivize the use of the network's applications.The move could help the Kraken-incubated Ink challenge Base, the L2 launched by rival U.S.-based exchange Coinbase.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.